Iron Rose
by acook10
Summary: RWBY/Iron Kingdoms. Ruby Rose finds herself in Western Immoren, and immediately is thrust into a dangerous situation. She is forced into a fight for survival, not just for herself but for civilization as a whole. Tentatively rated M for violence and language.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

_Five Fingers, Ord_

The strange girl with crimsonette hair awoke from her slumber. _That's a pretty sky_, she thought absently. _Wait a minute, I was indoors when I went to bed, I shouldn't be able to see the sky_. "YANG! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Her yell echoed across the corridor. _An echo?_ She looked left to see a wooden wall. Looked right and saw the same. _My team dumped me in an alleyway. If this is their form of a practical joke, I am not amused. I'm going to get back at them as soon as I return to Beacon_. Already thinking of clever pranks to pull on her team, Ruby Rose sat up. The alleyway she was in led to a crowded street. Tall, tightly packed wooden houses lined the opposite side of the road. A couple curious faces looked into the dark and narrow alley at the sound of a young girl yelling, but kept walking. In Five Fingers, you didn't nose into business that wasn't yours, if you knew what was best for you. _At least they didn't leave me here in my PJ's. _Ruby was grateful for that; it would have been more embarrassing to be found sleeping on the streets of Vale in her pyjamas than her combat skirt and hood that she found herself in.

The huntress-in-training stood up. _Where am I? _She wondered. _This doesn't look like Vale. The buildings look funny._ "I don't think this is a practical joke anymore," she mumbled under her breath. "YANG! WEISS! BLAKE!"

"Hey shut it kid." The harsh male voice came quietly from behind her. Ruby spun around and put an arm around her back. Her hand gripped the familiar weight of Crescent Rose on her back. _Good, I still have her._ Relaxing a little, she saw… no one. A few meters away the alleyway made a 90⁰ left turn. In the corner a large pile of trash was collecting flies. Nothing else was visible.

"Who said that?" Nervously, she took a half-step back. "Is someone there?" With practiced ease, Ruby detached Crescent Rose from the magnetic plate on the small of her back and pointed it down the alley. "Hello?" _Maybe I just imagined it. _Then a dark shape popped out of the garbage. Ruby screamed and nearly shot it when she realized it was a human head. One still alive.

"Oh for Morrow's sake, get lost will you? You nearly deafened me!" The male sounded young, not much older than Ruby herself, but she couldn't tell for certain because of the shadows obscuring his face.

"You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Ruby declared indignantly. Then in a more curious tone, "Why are you in the garbage anyways?"

"I am hiding from the Watch. Or trying to anyways, until you started yelling and drawing attention to yourself."

"The Watch? Is that like the police? What did you do to get in trouble?"

A sigh. "If by that you mean 'do they police the city?' then yes, they are technically like the police. And that's none of your business. Now get lost." The head popped back into the trash pile.

"No need to be so rude. Jeez." Ruby started to turn away, but a question popped into her head. _Might as well ask since I'm here. _"So, umm… what city are we in, exactly?"

The young man poked his head back out, exasperated. "We're in Five Fingers. Anything else before you get me arrested?"

"Yeah. What kingdom is that in?"

"Seriously? You don't know?" At the shake of her head, he sighed again. Ruby suspected he was rolling his eyes at her. "The Kingdom of Ord." Ruby was very confused now. _Who names a kingdom Ord?_

"…Never heard of it. Dumb name if you ask me."

"How can you not have heard of one of the four major kingdoms?" The vagabond was almost yelling now. "Well, one of three now, but that isn't the point! Did you hit your head or something?"

Ruby was shocked. _Only three kingdoms now? But that must mean… _"The Grimm managed to wipe out a kingdom?" She tried not to imagine what such a scene would look like, Grimm flooding though the streets, killing and eating- _Stop thinking about it you dolt! _

"Grimm? What in Urcaen are you talking about?" The male sounded about as confused as he did annoyed.

"Scary soulless monsters? How can you not have heard of them?" _This is starting to get weird. Everyone has heard of Grimm before, right?_

"…riiight…" More quietly he added, "Definitely hit her head."

"HEY! I heard that!"

The guy in the trash then snapped his head to the side. "Did you hear that? I think the Watch knows where I am now, thanks to you. I have to get out of here." Then Ruby heard it, over the crowd on the busy road behind her, the sound of heavy boots thumping on the ground. "Look, if you can take care of these guys for me I'll answer any question you want. Deal?"

"How?"

"I don't care, just get them away from me." With that, the fugitive ducked back under the pile of garbage. _Well, I do need his help, and he seems nice enough. Compared to Weiss anyways. _With that thought in mind the trainee huntress strolled almost leisurely to the end of the alleyway with Crescent Rose in her hands and looked around the corner.

The alley continued on for what to Ruby seemed like forever, with another turn about halfway down. _It's like a maze in here. Who designed these things anyways?_ She didn't get much time to think about it, as just then a pair of large men came around the corner. They might as well have been twins, they were so similar. Same shaggy, brown hair, same cruel-looking faces, same muscular bodies clothed in the same light-grey uniform with the same black symbol of an open hand. And the same sharp, wicked blades in their hands. _Think fast Ruby._ "Uhh… he went that way," pointing down the dark alley. _Nailed it!_

Apparently the two watchmen didn't think so. "What do we have here?" The first man said with a predatory grin. "Looks like there's a lost little girl over here. Why don't you come with us?" He took a step forward, with his colleague close behind.

_ Uh-oh. Stranger Danger! _"I think I'm good over here, thanks." A careful step back.

The second guy spoke up, voice dripping with malice. "No, we insist." The two approached closer. At over six feet in height, they towered over the petite teenager.

"Stay back!" Ruby raised Crescent Rose up in the direction of the two men. They didn't hesitate. The closer man rapidly closed the distance and grabbed the young girl by her right wrist. "Let go of me!" she cried out as she struggled against the man's firm grip, and then swung the folded-up Crescent Rose in a wide arc with her left arm. It impacted squarely against the first man's skull, and with a loud crack his head snapped to the right and he crumpled to the ground. _That shouldn't have knocked him out; his Aura should have protected him from that. _

The second man did not look happy about that. "You bitch! You're going to suffer for that!" He rushed towards her, blade raised high. Ruby did not hesitate, her training taking over; gun pointed at target, left hand on grip, right hand on bolt, aim at center mass, and squeeze the trigger.

With a large bang that echoed throughout the confined alley, the large round from Crescent Rose broke the sound barrier before impacting the attacker's chest. To Ruby's surprise, it didn't bounce off his Aura like she expected, but rather tore a gaping, bloody hole in his torso before soaring off into the sky and out of sight. A second body collapsed to the ground with a thud.

_ Oh God I just killed someone. _Then she looked down at the first man, the one she whacked with Crescent Rose. His neck was at an unnatural angle, and his chest was still. It struck her like a physical blow. _They didn't have an Aura. I just killed two people. I think I'm going to be_\- Ruby emptied the contents of her stomach onto the ground, some of it splashing on her boots. She was too shocked to care about the vomit, or to cry. The tears would come later.

"Are you okay?" She didn't hear the youth climb out of the garbage pile behind her. She shook her head slightly, unable to speak. "Are they dead?" A short nod was all that Ruby could manage. Warm arms wrapped around her from behind. "It's going to be okay," he said quietly, attempting to comfort the poor girl. Feeling guilty, he gently guided the stunned Ruby past the would-be rapists towards the other end of the dark alleyway, towards the heart of the city. "Come on, let's get you somewhere safe."


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: I do not own RWBY or the Iron Kingdoms setting. RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth and Iron Kingdoms (setting for Warmachine/Hordes and IKRPG) belongs to Privateer Press.**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

_House_

_Five Fingers, Ord_

By the time the unlikely pair arrived, the sun was hanging low in the sky. Now that the two were out of the darkness, Ruby could see clearly her companion.

Her first thought was that he looked about as young as he sounded, maybe 16 at most. He had shaggy hair the colour of chocolate milk, hazel eyes, and skin tanned by spending too much time in the sun. His clothes were odd-looking, but looking around, Ruby saw that everyone wore the same style of clothing.

The youths were quiet. Ruby was thankful for that; she didn't feel like talking after the events that had taken place in the alley. She had wept silent tears during the walk; she could still feel the dried salt on her cheeks. The young man stopped in front of a nondescript, two-story house in between identical two-story houses. He took a quick look around, and then knocked on the door. Twice, then once, then twice more. The door opened slightly, hard brown eyes glaring at the two through the crack. "What do you want?"

"Nice weather we're having today," the boy beside Ruby replied. _Weather? _Ruby was surprised, to say the least. _Yeah, sure it's a nice evening, but what does that have to do with anything?_ It was indeed a nice evening, despite the slight chill from the breeze.

"Yes, at least there isn't any of that bloody fog around."

"Indeed, the insects can drive a man insane."

"Come in. You took your sweet time didn't you?" _Wait, I get it now! Oh my god it's a secret code! Like a spy movie but real! This is so cool! _With that, the door swung open, and the person behind it was revealed.

Ruby was disappointed. She was expecting someone that looked like the hero of an action movie. Instead she was met with a slightly overweight, middle-aged man with a scruffy beard. He stepped to the side to let them in, only for more disappointment to meet her inside. _Jeez, this place looks old. There aren't even any lights! _Now that she thought about it, Ruby didn't remember seeing any streetlights outside either, not even those metal ones that only existed in the older parts of Vale. _Did I end up in the past somehow? That would be so cool! Though I'd miss my friends a lot. And I never heard of any of those places that boy mentioned in history books or in Professor Oobleck's class. What is going on?_

Ruby took a step into the candlelit room. The small room was dominated by a plain wooden table, with a half-dozen simple chairs around it. A narrow staircase leading up towards the second floor was flush against the left wall. On the right, a pair of doorways led to other rooms. Exposed wooden beams spanned the ceiling. The door closed behind her, and the older man stepped between her and the stairs. He pointed a single finger at Ruby. "And who might you be?"

Ruby replied hesitantly. "Umm, I'm Ruby."

The man smiled and extended his hand. "Well my name is Olan."

Ruby, feeling a little less uncomfortable, took his hand and shook it. "Nice to meet you."

Olan then turned to the boy to her right. "Why did you bring her here, Aiden?" Ruby turned to look at the boy she met earlier. _Aiden. So that's his name._

The boy looked down at his feet and started to wring his hands. "Umm, well, you see-"

Cutting the younger man off, Olan spoke harshly. "Hasten your tongue, kid, I haven't got all day. There's no secrets here."

"Uhh, right." He gulped visibly and tucked an errant strand of hair behind his ear. "Well, I was being chased by the Watch and-"

"What do you mean 'being chased'? You shouldn't be doin' anything against the law without tellin' me first!" Olan bellowed. Ruby clamped her hands over her ears. _Why did he have to yell, he's right next to me! _

"It's not what you think," Aiden protested hastily. "I didn't do nothing! I swear!"

Ruby chuckled quietly at that. _Blake would've slapped him upside the head for using a double negative..._ _I wish Blake was here. Or Yang, or even Weiss. I miss my team. _

Olan sighed and waved his hand dismissively. "Just… continue on with your story."

"Alright." And so Aiden told Olan what had occurred earlier that day, without any further interruptions. Ruby, being Ruby, had already stopped listening by that point and started to daydream. _I wonder what the rest of the team is doing. They're probably looking for me. Oh! I should probably check my Scroll; they might have tried to contact me!_

Ruby's hand zipped to her pocket and pulled out her Scroll, the small device that allowed her to communicate with her team. Sliding it open, the holographic screen flickered to life, and after punching in her password, she opened her contacts list. Scrolling through the list, she found her sister's name, and typed up a quick message to her, only for a white box with red text to pop up as she hit send, contrasting with the blue screen. No signal. Her shoulders sagged with disappointment. _Why do I never have signal when I need it? _

Ruby realized that the conversation in the background had stopped, and looked up. The two men stared at her in disbelief. "Umm, why are you looking at me like that?"

Aiden pointed at her– or rather, pointed at the device in her hands. With a voice that was part amazement and part disbelief, he managed to ask, "What is that?"

* * *

_Forever Fall_

_Outside of Vale_

The young Ogrun woke up with a splitting headache and no idea where he was. The last thing he remembered was getting piss-drunk in some bar in Caspia with friends, celebrating his induction into the Cygnaran army as a trencher. _"Congratulations Borok," _they all went. Waking up in some forest with red leaves in full kit was the last thing he expected to happen. Borok was large even for an Ogrun, towering over his human comrades, and his khaki uniform had to be specially made for him.

Getting up, he realized that he had no idea where he was. No matter, he decided. Picking a direction at random, he picked his rifle off the ground and set off, vowing to ask his friends what happened last night when he saw them again. Borok failed to notice several pairs of red eyes watching him, nor did he notice that some of the shadows seemed to be following him.


End file.
